West Ham manager Alan Pardew has said that he is enduring the worst period of his career, having seen his side knocked out of the Uefa Cup and Carling Cup while languishing second from bottom in the Premiership.

Last night's Cup defeat to League One side Chesterfield was West Ham's eighth in succession and confirmed their worst run of results for 74 years. More worrying for Pardew is that his side have scored only one goal during the losing streak.

"It's the worst run of my career, in terms of a player and a manager," Pardew said.

"It's not getting any easier and the only way to turn it around is to come out fighting. I intend to do that and I hope the players do too, and not look around and point at somebody else and look for excuses.

"They have to look at their own individual displays against Chesterfield and ask themselves: 'Is that good enough for West Ham in the Premiership?"'

Talk of a takeover at Upton Park and the arrival of the Argentine pair of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano have been cited as the reason for West Ham's loss of form following the success enjoyed last seeason.

Despite bookmakers offering even odds on Pardew becoming the first Premiership manager to be sacked, he dismissed the idea that uncertainty surrounding the club's future ownership has granted him a stay of execution.

"It's not about buying time or being fearful of my job, but every manager has to live and die by results. I'm no exception to that and I don't think I'm immune from anything.

Pardew is no stranger to the wrath of disgruntled supporters. After joining West Ham from Reading in 2003, he was often booed by supporters.

However, after winning promotion to the Premiership and taking his side to the FA Cup final the following season, Pardew, who last November signed a new five-year contract keeping him at the club until 2010, may have just done enough to remain in charge.

"The fans are maybe staying patient because of our success last year," Pardew said.

"They've given us the benefit of the doubt but at some point you have to turn it around and we now have to do that.

"They will be right behind us at the start on Sunday [against Blackburn] and we need to respond to that.

"We need our stadium to give us a lift, because if we don't respond to that they will turn on us and then it's a very, very difficult position we're going to find ourselves in. It's a big, big game on Sunday."

Pardew and West Ham can expect a tough month ahead with games against Arsenal, Chelsea and a resurgent Middlesbrough following the Blackburn fixture.

Steven Gerrard has said it is too early to rule out Liverpool from the Premiership title race.

The Liverpool captain said both Sunday's defeat to Manchester United and their defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last month could work in their favour.

Gerrard, 26, struggled to make an impact at Old Trafford and defeat to United left Rafael Benitez's men 11 points behind the leaders and second-placed Chelsea.

"We haven't made the start to the season we hoped we'd make, but we're more than capable of going on a run of 10 games or more without defeat and that would put us right in the mix along with the title contenders," Gerrard said.

"Both United and Chelsea have difficult games coming up but we have to sort out our own form and get ourselves in a position to take advantage of any slips that anyone else makes. And they will slip up.

"People have said the league's over for us, but we've been to Old Trafford and we've been to Stamford Bridge and we've still got them to come to us. Nothing's over yet."

Gerrard has been played on the right of midfield recently, much to the consternation of some observers and with mixed results. After three Premiership games without a win he is hoping for a turn in fortunes when Liverpool return to league action on Saturday against Aston Villa.

It is expected that Gerrard will be rested for tonight's Carling Cup game against Reading, as will Xabi Alonso and Sami Hyypia.

Blackburn striker Benni McCarthy's allegation of being racially abused will be heard by Uefa at a hearing tomorrow.

European football's governing body has instigated disciplinary proceedings against Wisla Krakow defender Nikola Mijailovic following last week's Uefa Cup tie in Poland and hav confirmed that their control and disciplinary body will examine the case.

The charge is based on the complaint submitted by Blackburn, as well as the additional report forwarded by referee Stefan Johannesson.

Mijailovic and his club had until today to respond to the charge.

Newcastle United have said that talks with the Jersey-based Belgravia Group are still taking place but that no firm offer had been made for the club.

A statement from the club said: "Whilst discussions are ongoing between the two parties, it [Newcastle United] has not received a formal proposal from Belgravia or any other entity.

"There can be no certainty that an offer will be made, nor as to the terms on which any offer would be made.